The Teacher – I’m Baaack

Yea, I know, I haven’t been posting the last few weeks.  Truthfully, all I wanted to do was sleep for about a week after my crazy month of classes.  And I pretty much did.  And then, I just had no motivation to write.  My classes took all of my creativity for a bit.  But its sort of back.  Well, its coming back slowly.  Just in time for the next set of classes to begin.  (Sigh).

We have been working little by little on the house.  I painted the guest bathroom and I am working on the trim around the house slowly.  The TShirts & Twine office is really starting to come together, too, and I am excited about what the next year or so has in store, both for me personally and for TShirts & Twine.  We should be coming out with some new products soon, so keep your eyes out!

But here is the really exciting thing about this week: my niece is going to be born this week!  The Designer’s sister is pregnant with her third child, their first girl.  So I get to go from making super-hero capes to little tu-tu’s and princess dresses.  I can’t tell you how excited I am!  And I get to use pink!  My little sister is too old for all the little pink things I want to make; she’s now into blacks and purples.  But now I get to make fun little things for a little girl, and I can’t tell you how excited I am!  The picture is the blanket I am working on right now for her.  It may be a little hard to see, but its pink, ivory, and navy blue.  So cute!

I know this isn’t very revealing, but it is what I wanted to write about.  So there.

The Designer – Striving After Wind

I like to philosophize some days. Or at-least I think I do. Truthfully I even have trouble spelling the word properly.

I took a gander at Ecclesiastes 1 out of the Bible today. For those who don’t know Scripture, Ecclesiastes is a book more than likely written by King Solomon. A man of great wealth and knowledge, much of the book is about the meaninglessness of human efforts. More so the meaninglessness of human efforts without God. We live, we work, we consume, we play, we lie, we covet, we enjoy, we pursue and yet is there any real meaning to what we do. The earth remains. The wind blows north and south and all around. The rivers run toward the ocean and don’t fill it. We quickly forget what was before and always look towards what is ahead and yet do we accomplish anything? At the end of our lives and the end of our journey is it possible that all we have fought and bled for in our struggle was all for nothing?

I have worked quite a bit this week and it feels good to me. It feels good to have what I believe to be a purpose in my day and money in my bank account. But how much more is there?

Could the things we do in our daily rote really reverberate amongst eternity?

Perhaps the fatal flaw in my mini philosophical dabbles is that I don’t linger to much. I usually wrap it up neatly in some tangible thought or thing that I already know somewhere deep in my heart to be true. Chasing after the wind is meaningless. We can’t catch it. We can try to harness it and use it’s power. But we, personally, with our own hands cannot catch and hold the wind. We can feel it. We can experience it. We can be surrounded by it and on a really hot day we can enjoy it and yearn for it.

Beyond the idea that life is meaninglessness without God, life to me is meaningless if not enjoyed. Life was meant to be enjoyed. It was meant to be experienced. It was meant to felt. It was meant to surround us. If you cannot enjoy the everyday journey of life you will be only enjoying the meaningless toil of existence. As Wash said, “I’m a leaf on the Wind”.

The Designer – Dead Man Talking

I’m a tiny bit talked out. I have had to talk A LOT in the last few weeks. And, just like the guy in the photo above, I may have a lot to say but I’m just a bit too dead to share it. So, let it be known to many people’s from my childhood, I’m a little tired of talking. I have always loved to talk. I have a natural gift. I inherited my continuos talking abilities from my dad. Over the years I have slowly learned the wondrous joy of listening, but the talking monster likes to come out and play every now and again. Some people also say I’m loud. This is yet again another gift and curse as my voice naturally carries. So give me a week and I will be just as garrulous as I was before.

This is what I’ll say: The house is happy, the bills aren’t paid, a new normal has begun, business is good, money is slow, the Teacher is living her dream, the Writer hates grape jelly, the Minimalist is craving pizza, life is wonderful and each day a fresh, graceful beginning.

The Minimalist – Not a lot to say

I’m strangely word-dry right now. I usually don’t have any problem filling up a page with my thoughts, but these last few weeks I’ve struggled with adequately articulating how I feel. Here’s a bullet-point list for you all instead:

• I’m happy. Not just gleeful or giggly, but joyful. I’m at peace, despite numerous reasons to not be.
• I feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose. It’s not easy or without its bumps, but I’m doing it. My current endeavors feel very, very right.
• I’m madly in love with my husband. This new project and just generally being around each other more has been so good for us.
• I go to bed every night exhausted in a good, I’ve-accomplished-mountains-of-awesomeness-today way.
• I feel like I’m getting along with The Teacher and The Designer very well (for my part, at least – don’t want to assume! 😉 )
• I’m catching up with old friends. (Hi Chris!)
• I had peanut M&Ms tonight. It’s been a while. Lovely.

So there you have it. I promise I’ll do some more in-depth writing soon. Honestly, the silence in my brain is so welcome. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this at peace in my mind. Good things are happening. I’m just going to breathe and enjoy them.

The Teacher – “Finals” Week

Monday – 5 page paper due at 9:15 am

Tuesday – 2 final projects both due at 11:59 pm

Wednesday – Final exam at 9:15 am

See you next week.

The Minimalist – Obsession

The Writer and I have both been storytellers our whole lives. We love the written word, and we always have writing projects in the works. But the one thing we have never been able to do is tell a story together. This is a result of our very different creative styles. We’ve tried in the past to co-author books, but we usually don’t get much beyond the outline phase.

Nine days ago, we decided to give it another go. We’ve had a project idea bouncing around in our minds for a couple of years, but we didn’t have the time or motivation before now to truly pursue it. So we had a little spousal meeting to work through our expectations and create a story outline. The compromise was this: since the original idea was The Writer’s, he would be the book’s “producer.” If we came down on different sides of an issue, his decision would be the final one. We also would split the characters between us, with him taking on the creation and development of the male characters, and me the female ones. When we write dialogue, he speaks for his characters, and I speak for mine – similar to roleplaying. This keep the narrative fresh and organic.

The Writer’s strengths lie in atmosphere and description. He can choose exactly the right word to convey the light of a lamp, or the smell of a flower in a way that drags you into the scene. He is not, however, the greatest at dialogue, which is where I come in. And since I’m terrible with atmosphere, we actually make a pretty great team! By learning to recognize our strengths (and more importantly, our weaknesses) we have been able to write every day without fallout. Today we broke 30,000 words, which puts us at about 30% of the way there!

This project brings me so much joy. There is no doubt in my mind that this will come to be something big and beautiful for us. I’m in love with this story. I wake up thinking about what I’ll write. I have become an insomniac because I can’t tear myself away long enough to sleep. My computer goes with me everywhere, and where my computer can’t follow, I use my phone. I’ve printed pdfs of what we have so far so I can read them over and over, analyzing every word.

I know this makes me sound like a crazy person, but working on this book is so right and so good for me. I’m happy to be obsessed with this story, because this story is part of my story.

The Teacher – The Surrealistic Dream

At this time two years ago I was sitting in a chair recovering from minor surgery on my wrist. I was tired, depressed, and leaving the job that I had been in for three years; and it was much sooner than I was ready for. But if you had told me then that in two years I would on my way to getting a Masters degree from the University of Georgia, living in Athens with The Designer AND The Writer and Minimalist, I would have thought you were crazy. If you had told me two years ago that at the point that I would be starting at UGA that I would no longer feel the weight of depression on my shoulders; that the weight that I had felt for most of my life would be gone. I won’t tell you that I don’t have bad days; I won’t tell you that every day is roses and butterflies. But I will tell you that even my bad days no longer feel like the end of the world. And on top of all that, I am working towards a long term goal; I feel swamped and over loaded but I am living the dream. I am living my dream. And two years ago today, there is no way that I would have guessed that that would be the case.
And on top of all that, I am surrounded by people that I love, and who both love me and help me stay focused. Even in my darkest moment now, I know that I am truly blessed.

The Designer – Ready, Set, Wait

I tend to be an impatient person at times. I don’t like to wait to get home to open up something new. I don’t like to wait in traffic. And I don’t like to wait to know if someone likes something new I made and that I’m proud of. This impatience has availed me to many lessons on patience. And this week has lent itself again to another exercise in patience.

My head had wanted to write something warm and inviting with some neat little lesson at the end or funny story. But truthfully, my heart is restless. I’m uneasy. I worked very hard to prepare myself but sometimes I don’t even know what to be prepared for. And I have discover that what I need to do is simply write out some truths I know.

My heart knows these truths… God is unbelievably faithful. Sometimes he calls us to a place where feet may fail. Sometimes we stumble there and then realize where we are. Either way, God is unbelievably faithful. He’s enduring. He’s not in it for us for the short haul, the quick route or the fast track. God is in this one for the duration. He thrives in the deepest part of the ocean. The part where the waves are high and the seas are rough. He is sovereign. He guides are steps. I have seen and felt His presence this past year in ways that I can’t describe. He has yet to fail and He is not planning on starting that now. I know that in His timing He comes through. Not always in the way we want, desire or plan for, but totally in His Design.

I share what is in my heart. I have found a compassionate, loving God who cares deeply for me. Even amongst the bends of life, He loves me enough for me to wait. I know that my waiting is only going to make my faith stronger. And wait here I will.

The Minimalist – This is Not a Pipe

Not everything is as it seems.

This is important to remember when picking out a “kids” movie from Redbox,  reaching for the suspiciously scaly rope under your back deck, and accepting supplier relations jobs from people overseas.

I know, I know. Look, I am the world’s most paranoid internet user. I didn’t blog under my real name for years. All of my Facebook settings are on super-crazy-I-don’t-ever-want-to-meet-new-people-private. My bedroom has a doorbell. (That last one wasn’t as relevant, I guess.)

So I honestly thought I would be the last person in the entire world to fall victim to an internet scam. My new job opportunity definitely appeared to be on the level. They had a respectable looking website, a phone number that traced back to the company, and they didn’t ask for any info we’re trained to never give out online. The salary was reasonable, and the people I spoke with were polite, professional, and informed.

But their checks weren’t any good. Oops. Fortunately my bank caught it before anything worse happened, but I’m still way bummed about this. Jack and I still don’t have jobs. We’ve just paid the very last bill we can, and now we’re totally out of money.

So I think you could safely assume that my determined optimism cracked a little the night I “lost” my “job”, but I’ll tell you anyway. This little hiccup caused me some… hm. The online thesaurus has failed me. I was hoping for a word that was both obscure and slightly comical. I was going to present it in a quote block like this:

My unique and funny word:

(noun)

1. Used to describe the feeling associated with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2. The reason I would drink a little if I had money to buy alcohol.

3. Sadness.

Isn’t that such a wasted moment? Thanks a lot, Merriam Webster.

Anyway. As I was having a moment of [insert emotion here], I was struck by something a very wise, beautiful person wrote on my blog. (Hint: it was me.) Oh! I get to use the quote block after all!

Always run downhill.

We often find ourselves completely overwhelmed by life. Deadlines need to be met, laundry washed, dishes cleaned, homework finished, friends hugged, children bathed, spouses dated, blog posts written. But once in a while, we hit a lull. A time of peace. A break. Whether it’s a vacation week, or a free hour after lunch, use it. Find what you need most, and chase it. If that’s rest, rest. If it’s socialization, socialize. If it’s fitness, work out. Whatever. When the uphill of life ends and the easy downhill approaches, make the most of it. Run.

This is something I wrote on The Live Simply Blog approximately a million years ago (November.) I had assumed that this just applied to vacations, days off, and 3-day weekends. Being honest with myself that night, I had to admit that I had lost sight of this rule. Just because I need income soon doesn’t mean I need to stop pursuing all of my non-money-making ventures. I have a purpose, and – news flash – it’s not making wads of cash.

So that night, I stopped feeling sorry for myself, jumped on Ruzuku, and began to create (dun dundun dun!):

The Jump Off the Ladder Online Course!

Ta-da!

This is something I’ve been developing for a long time, but never got up the courage to actually complete. In an evening, I had written and assembled half of the Mental Track of the course and was well on my way to creating the Possessions, Money, and Time tracks. Guys, I’m so excited about this, you don’t even know. I know this won’t pay our bills, but it’s something. And more importantly, this is what I love. This is my purpose right now.

I still have no idea how we’re getting out of our little financial pickle. We’re doing everything we can by way of applications, meetings, etc. The rest is in God’s hands.

I have forever blogged about not being a victim, chasing your purpose, and taking life by the reins. I’m still determined to practice what I preach. Fear doesn’t help me. Worry just slows me down. Self-pity just makes me look stupid.

Does the future look bleak? Yup. But looks aren’t everything. Maybe – just maybe –  this is not a pipe.

The Writer – Octopi

So I find that communication is kind of a vital thing. Just tonight, The Teacher is sitting on the couch, entrenched in schoolwork and utterly focused upon the task at hand. I’m sitting nearby ensconced in an armchair, idly paging through a steampunk novel. Enter The Designer, and I witness the following exchange.

D: I need to plug this in – do we have, like, somewhere…

T: (gesturing to the craft office room) Yeah, behind the – the thing.

D: What?

T: (still waving, now agitated) In there, there’s an octopus!

… what?

But it’s been a full week of people saying things that other people heard differently, of trying to listen closely but getting the intent wrong, and of sometimes just not taking the time to sit down and talk things through.

We’re getting better, though.

Here is my newest rule for communications, however.

1. Do not judge a roommate by what they say; judge what they say by who you know the roommate to be.

Trust me – saves a heck of a lot of trouble. These people are my friends. A single comment or a bad day won’t change that.

Also, ‘octopus’ is another name for a power strip.